This handy explainer comes from our health blogging partners over at :
by Mary Agnes Carey/KHN
As the number of swine flu cases rises in the United States, Congress is doing what it does best: hold hearings, express concern, spend money and promise tough oversight.
Lawmakers like (D-MA) have tried to reassure the public that Congress is taking steps to help stop the spread of the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu.
"Our first duty as a government is to protect our citizens," Kennedy said at a hearing last week. "And Americans want to know what we are doing to keep them safe."
To meet that goal, Congress calls on officials of key federal agencies that deal with the issue, such as the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security, to testify. They tell lawmakers (and the cameras) what their agencies are doing to keep on top of a flu outbreak or another health crisis.
Congress also has another key role, and that is to pay the bills.
Congressional leaders have promised to move quickly on President Obama's request for an additional $1.5 billion in federal funds to help fight the swine flu outbreak.
Congress appropriates money through the annual budget process, which provides funding to federal agencies. But Congress may also pass additional bills during the year, known as "supplementals," to pay for items like pandemic flu preparedness.
Later, congressional committees then oversee those funds to determine if the money was spent CORRECTLY -- which means the way Congress wants it spent.
While U.S. flu preparedness efforts have improved in recent years, it needs both more funding and oversight, warns Richard Hamburg, director of government relations for the group .
In a recent report, the group notes that federal funding for one federal grant program, Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreements, has been cut 25 percent over the last five years.
We have a feeling some of that money's going to come back.
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